Turkey's natural gas imports decreased by 0.5% in May this year compared to the same month of 2019, according to Turkish energy watchdog's data on Wednesday.
Natural gas imports decreased to 2.67 billion cubic meters (bcm) in May last year, from 2.68 bcm for the same month of 2019, Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) said in its monthly natural gas market report.
In May 2020, the country imported 1.22 bcm of natural gas via pipelines, while 1.45 bcm was purchased as LNG, EMRA's data showed. This marked a drop in pipeline gas imports by 44.6% and a 205.5% increase in LNG imports.
Azerbaijan was Turkey's top gas import destination, supplying 881 million cubic meters (mcm) of natural gas while Qatar and Russia followed with 520 and 339 mcm, respectively.
In May, Turkey's gas imports from Azerbaijan and Qatar grew respectively by 14.5% and 288%, while the volume of Russian imports fell by 62% compared to the same period last year.
- Consumption down 24.2%
Turkey's total gas consumption decreased by 24.2% to approximately 2.24 bcm this May from around 2.95 bcm in May last year.
Household consumption grew by 4.6% to reach 825 mcm while the use of gas in power plants was down by 46.2% to 269 mcm during the same period.
The amount of natural gas in storage in May increased by 36% to 2.15 bcm from 1.58 bcm in May last year.
By Nuran Erkul Kaya
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr